New journal time to keep me motivated. After my torn pectoralis back in March, I stopped almost all things weightlifting wise in order to heal. So three months went by before I decided that my goals changed from bodybuilding to powerlifting. Read everything and then some related to power, every Dave Tate article, and every forum I could think of. My opinion was that it was too much to take in and my reading comprehension apparently sucks. So instead of fucking my training up, I went the personal trainer route and hired Reynolds. Made sense seeing as I loved Dual Factor training, Olympic squats, and standing OHP’s.

As most people know, I'm getting personally trained by Matt Reynolds with a Modified Westside template according to my needs. The purpose of my journal is NOT to give away what we are doing, but to provide me some extra motivation to get the job done. Plus I know some people would cut and paste what I'm doing and like a monkey fucking a football, they’d screw up their training. :D If people really want to know, pay the fucking $100 cheap bastards! So I'm not posting exact weights and exercises, just the ME lifts and occasionally my DE exercises as well as my thoughts on how things are progressing and shit like that. I see a lot of other people do the same thing like at IA where they give updates, results, and other bullshit without going into exact protocols and details.

Short Term Goals:

Bench: 405 (again)
Squat: 425
Deadlift: 475-500

- Very realistic goals since I'm already relatively close. My bench is back up to around the 375 range, I just A2G squatted 375 raw, and my deadlift is at 455 w/out a belt. After I reach my short term, I'll up the stakes. I don't want to post any long term goals because I don't want to get ahead of myself. By the time I reach my short term goals, hopefully I should have at least a benching shirt, hopefully a suit as well. I just don't see any benefit over my short term numbers staying raw...Way too unsafe, and I'm mainly referring to bench. Reminds me of a good Dave Tate article I read about him saying not benching in a shirt is stupid.

Reminds me of a good Dave Tate article I read about him saying not benching in a shirt is stupid.

Here it is! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Tate

So what is your carry over?

This seems to be the question of the decade. What can you do RAW? I am asked this just about once a week. I am sure there are many of you who are reading this that know exactly what I mean. Will this ever end?

It is always those who have the least experience in the prone position who ask such things. They are really the ones at risk. RAW is just plain dangerous. We are in a different world then we were years ago. We have more knowledge, technique is better, strength and endurance is better optimized and the stakes are higher. going raw is just not worth the risk. I have seen the news and see the stats. It is those who go raw that are ending up seeing the doctor wondering how they put themselves in such a position. They knew better but did it anyway and now they are paying the price.

Why can't tell wake up and see what is going on?

Single Ply, Two ply, Triple ply, who cares? Just wear something!

I have though long and hard on this and have come up with a few reasons why these pricks stay raw.

1. They do not understand the issues we have to deal with.

2. They have never had had their performance interrupted because of a hamstring cramp?

3. They have never had to stop short because their lower back was in knots?

4. They have never been so tight they felt like they were going to pop only to find they could have been tighter?

5. They have never had their staying power compromised.

Have they ever tucked as hard as they could only to find they missed the sweet spot? I don't think so.
Do they know what it is like to push and drive as hard as you can to have a blow out and then spend the next 30 days wondering how they will deal with it? Nope! They have no idea.

Look I know we are in the up and coming age of the Ultra this and Ultra that, Titan, Magum, Viking, Max, Trojan and whatever knight they come up with next. We have so many options. We have single, double and triple ply. You can get the in any size to fit anybody. They are meant to keep you jacked and tight and defiantly make you stronger. We have push harder and have a little more at the peak to finish strong. I will not lie. Being Anti Raw is not only safer it helps. It helps you feel better and lets you take it to the next level.

I can't sit here and make it sound like this is all good and does not have its negatives. Years ago many records were set and they were all RAW. Were these legends better than the ones of today? This can be debated but how long did they really last. There were many that died before there prime. Sure there names will go on forever and legands like Holmes will last forever. There are many Frank, Dick, and Harry's out there that think this is all easy business. It is not as easy as it looks. First getting it on right takes skill and experience. If it is not put on right you will not get the biggest carryover. Second, they can tear you up and can actually somewhat hinder your ability to feel the stroke. But I can say this. I have personally gotten close to 30% on single ply and 50% with double. Now what does this mean in real terms.

What this means is when I have sex and wear one condom I can actually make it for 13 stokes. My RAW max is around 10 so I am getting a 30% carry over. Now when I wear two condoms it goes right up to 15 strokes or 50%.

Did you assume this was about Bench Shirts? Hum. Never trust you assumptions.

Now go back and read this again. It is much funnier the second time.

Darkhorse

08-14-2006 07:28 PM

I'll start with yesterday's workout..

ME Bench day kicked fucking ass. ME lift was close grip bench, and I had to beat what I did last time which was 315 x 1. That number was back in week 2, so I know it would be fucking nothing to surpass.

Worked up to 325 x 2 easy enough. I had a spotter standing by, and the fucker touched the bar on my first rep, so I told him to let go and I did another one just to be sure. He said he didn't help whatsoever, but I don't like anyone touching the bar if it's GOING UP! If it comes down dead on my chest, then thanks for the help..Otherwise just be a spectator. I ended up with 335 x 1 which I got no problem. Very pleased with a 20 pound PR, so my training is on track.

After that I did the normal supplemental and accessory work as I've done for the past 8 weeks. I'm finally used to doing a heavy shoulder pressing after my max effort bench so I'm thrilled with that.

Today I did Olympic squats for a 1 RM. The highest before this I ever did was 355 x 3 back when I was on my final week of superdrol. Last week I nailed 335 x 5, so I knew going in that I'd wind up with at least 365 for a single. Well, I nailed the 365 x 1 and felt great so I added another 10 lbs and hit a new PR of 375 x 1 A2G. My form kinda sucked on the way up though. Kinda felt like a GM because I started bending forward on the way up. Next time I'll concentrate on driving my head back into the bar to elliminate the problem.

Deadlifts I fucked up though. My goal was 465 x 1, which I knew I'd hit since I previously did 455 x 1 five or more weeks prior. The reason why I think I fucked up is two fold.

1. I did an extra set more than I should've, and it was too close to the max weight.

2. I've recently converted to an over-under grip, and I'm still not comfortable with it.

I hit the 455 with a double overhand before. Not only that, but last time I jumped from 405 x 1 to the 455 and nailed it easy. THIS TIME, being retarted, I did the 405 x 1, 440 x 1 (!), then attempted the 465. Got about 3" up and stalled. I was gassed after the useless set of 435, so at least I know where I went wrong.

On my DE Squat/Deadlift day, I'm gonna try the HOOK GRIP and see how much more comfortable I'll be with it. I've always deadlifted with a double overhand, so I'll probably benefit more from tweeking my grip to the hook even though it'll be weird at first. Adapt and overcome!

ChinPieceDave667

08-15-2006 05:19 AM

good deal man. As always good to see another journal for the inspiration.

hrdgain81

08-15-2006 05:45 AM

Dont let that shit with the deadlift bother you bro. Your just feeling out your program, mistakes are bound to happen.

you'll get that shit easy next go round.

verbatimreturned

08-15-2006 02:48 PM

hmmm 0311's new journal good stuff man, best of luck

Darkhorse

08-15-2006 04:43 PM

Thanks guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrdgain81

Dont let that shit with the deadlift bother you bro. Your just feeling out your program, mistakes are bound to happen.

you'll get that shit easy next go round.

I think so to. Always nice to hear that, thanks. I can't wait for Thursday's DE day so I can fuck around with that hook grip. I think it'll make a tremendous difference in my pulling power since I've always used a double overhand for the past few years.

Kane

08-15-2006 06:04 PM

Well well....it's good to see you've fired up a journal Big Guy. Short term goals are looking really good, especially since most goals in the gym are way out to lunch (ie. gaining 100lbs on your bench in 4 months, squatting 225 by halloween and 395 by christmas lol). Anyway, best of luck and I'll be keeping an eye on the new journie for sure! :benchpress:

Numbers are lookin' damn good man, Git R Done!

Darkhorse

08-16-2006 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kane

Git R Done!

That's the name of the game!

DE BENCH DAY

Super workout, pumped as all hell. Today I ran 225 lbs for 9 sets of 3 w/ the usual 45 seconds between sets. Three grips: Close, Reg, Wide. I was pressing up and down so fast today I felt like I ripped a hole (again) in the space-time continuem and could've travelled back to 1985. :D Super fast speed, which tells me next time I'm hitting up 235. Hopefully I'll have my resistance bands by then and will most likely regress in weight a little to accomodate the bands tension. Actually, next week I plan on doing some DE Bench, then build myself up to a new 1RM.

After that, just did the usual lifts..Overhead pressing, tons of back and triceps work, ect. Was energized the whole way through.

Tomorrow will be DE SQUAT/DEADLIFT. So far my recovery has been stellar, so I have no intention of splitting up my ME/DE days for more recovery. I don't think I'm at that "human-forklift" stage yet. Plus the exercises Matt has me doing don't interfere with my other workouts. That's where most people IMO go wrong with Westside. They are mostly neophytes (newbs to powerlifting) and take into account every piece of literature written by Dave Tate and company and construct an abortion waiting to happen based on what THEY DO. They NEED those 3 days between ME's because they're squatting 700 lbs. Mostly everyone that I know of doesn't. That's also a very good reason why I've come to really enjoy Westside powerlifting. It's so individual that there could be 50 lifters at a competition and all 50 do some form or variation that's different from everyone else.

Shit, I'm doing my ME Squat followed by a variation of a deadlift still and it doesn't bother me or hinder my recovery one bit. But, for a lot of others, it'll break their back. Especially when I follow those lifts up by pullthroughs, hypers, and a shitload of other exercises involving the lower back and hams with a lot of weight! :D

I think tomorrow I'm gonna switch to a new weighted abs exercise and go gang busters.

RoryL

08-16-2006 06:23 PM

I agree with what you said about the newb's and WS training. Exercise selection is going to largely depend on where the individual's weaknesses are. This is something that you have to figure out on your own and be knowledgeable about where those sticking points or weaknesses are. In my experience, this is something that newb's just cannot correctly analyze. So instead, they just throw everything but the kitchen sink in their program, do way too much, and as a result get injured. This also affects the effectiveness of the program. You become a better PL'r by getting stronger in your weak areas. One of articles I read at Elite had a quote stating something along the lines of "A champion becomes a champion by getting stronger in his weakest lift."

I am fortunate enough to have recently been training w/ someone very knowledgeable in WSB. He has trained at WS and MM and has helped me immnesely. We are following a conjugate method and he tells me that the only way we'd "truly" be training WS is if we were training at WS. So, it's just the conjugate method for now but based largely on WSB principles. We also throw in MM benching methods almost every week. So it's a combination of the two I guess.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to your progress here. Good luck. When are you going to do a meet?

Almost forgot....I want to get big muskles, be HYOOGE, and lose fat...can you pm me a program? :biglaugh: